are there any particular resources you would recommend to learn more?
Your two best resources are the American Hair Loss Association (AHLA) and the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons (IAHRS). These are non-profit patient advocacy organizations. The Bald Truth is part of both.
I had a very bad experience on the hair transplant network. Basically it’s a hair transplant sales site and they sell hair loss products also. Since it purely a sales site you should not trust the posters on there. Most of them are shills or they work for the site. There job is to generate leads for these doctors, so telling you not to have surgery or to wait is not well received on that site. You will see a lot of IAHRS members who advertise on that site so many of the doctors are good, but if they are not in the IAHRS you should stay clear!. There have been reports that when you join you’ll get PMs trying to sell you surgery if you ask certain questions so be careful. That is an extremely unethical website so listen to the people here with experience and do your own leg work.
While I agree that it is kind of shady that that site makes money selling products and the doctors are paying to be part of the site, I have to say that the doctors that are members of that website are the cream of the crop. There are far more butchers that are members of the IAHRS than are members of that site. I personally would only trust my head to a handful of seurgons and none of them are in California. If you can drop the money on the procedure, and can allow the proper amount of time to recover there is no reason that you can't travel. My short list in no paticular order would be Rahal, Hasson & Wong, the Shapiro bros, Feller, possibly a few others i'm forgetting. If you're going to get a hair transplant you might as well get it done by the best doctors in the field. Cost is pretty much the same across the board and they all offer travel reimbursement. Also imo you are going to need more than 1800 grafts to be happy with your results. Even if you don't go to one of the doctors I mentioned, I believe they all do online consultations and I would recommend you at least get their perfessional opinions. The more information you have the better your end results will be.
08-10-2012 08:50 AM
Tracy C
Quote:
Originally Posted by greatjob!
Also imo you are going to need more than 1800 grafts to be happy with your results.
Though I do not know what the OP's expectations are, I have to agree. 1,800 grafts is not going to do much at all for a person with his degree of loss.
08-10-2012 12:02 PM
Stolli
thanks for the responses guys! that number came from Dr. McAndrews....
08-10-2012 01:41 PM
Tracy C
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stolli
thanks for the responses guys! that number came from Dr. McAndrews....
That may be the most the doctor will do in one session for one set price. Remember FUE is a lot more expensive than FUT.
1,800 grafts can do a lot for some guys who have less loss than you, but for someone with as much loss as you have, one session of 1,800 grafts is not going to make much difference. If you respond well to the medications and grow some hair back, 1,800 grafts might get you closer to where you want to be.
Take the time to try to grow back as much as you can if you can and make sure you are clear on your expectations.
